Poetry Of & Off the Page
a workshop developed and taught by Jennifer Scappettone at the University of Chicago, Spring 2010
Is there a place for poetry in a universe subject to time-space compression and virtualization? We will explore and experiment with material whose response is a delirious yes—text that revels in charging the confines of the page and book. Exposure to an archive of modernist visual and sound poetry, contemporary installation and performance works, and relevant theories of media dislodgment will help us compose our own answers to the (old) question: what forms are poems obliged or inspired to take as language goes viral, in the face of total information, digitization, and post-literary culture? Readings and viewings in 20th- and 21st-century poetry and poetics; visits to local writing-arts collections and by artists Jerome Rothenberg, Judd Morrissey, and Mark Jeffery. Students will complete weekly assignments, engage with the writing of their peers formally, and work toward a culminating piece that may take the form of a chapbook, installation, performance, or other pertinent channel.
Books for purchase at Seminary Co-Op:
A Book of the Book, ed. Jerome Rothenberg and Steve Clay
The Kenning Anthology of Poets Theater 1945-1985, ed. Kevin Killian and David Brazil
PLUS e-reserves, updated as the quarter progresses, and texts linked to syllabus
Many other reading assignments and links will be posted to the Google groups forum and to Chalk.